By Claudia de Brito
No stranger to ‘firsts’ throughout her illustrious career, Tala Bashmi once again cemented her trailblaizing reputation when she became the first female chef to be honoured with the Estrella Damm N.A. Chefs’ Choice Award at MENAs 50 Best Restaurants awards held on Monday 28th January.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Chefs’ Choice Award is designed to give recognition to a chef who has had a positive impact on the regional culinary community, the award is peer-voted by chefs of the restaurants on the MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Bashmi’s dedication to redefining Bahraini cuisine through innovative interpretations of heritage dishes has positioned her as a pioneer in modern Middle Eastern gastronomy, earning her this well-deserved recognition.
Speaking about her win, she said: “To be the first woman to win this award just shows the respect that my peers have for me, and they don’t have this discrimination that everyone talks about about our region. And I said ‘How often is a woman going to be voted? 99.9% a woman is not going to be voted’. But here I am. I stand corrected and it just shows our industry is changing. I think it’s absolutely beautiful.”
No stranger to special awards at MENAs 50 Best Restaurants, Bashmi was the inaugural recipient of the Best Female Chef award. Commenting on what can be a divisive award, she said: “When I was awarded Best Female Chef, I didn’t take it the best way. I said ‘What, do you mean I’m a good enough chef for a woman?’ Because doctors are doctors, lawyers are lawyers and chefs should be chefs.They shouldn’t be female or male. However, I’m very grateful for the fact that there is a platform.”
Having spent the last decade of her career at Fusions by Tala, Tala Bashmi announced last November that she would be moving on from the restaurant which, at no.6 on this year’s MENAs 50 Best Restaurants list, was awarded The Best Restaurant in Bahrain.
Tala explained: “The reason I left in general was that I felt like I reached the ceiling of growth. So right now, I’m moving on to creating something different, something that is completely my vision, with no limitations. Am I going to tell you where? No, because that’s too easy but you will be the first to know when it happens.”
However, Bashmi was happy to share a few of her go-to spots in Bahrain: “Cut by Wolfgang Puck if you want to do fine dining, Haji for breakfast and there’s a really good hole in the wall fish place that my dad takes me to. It’s called Jalboot.”
